Dear Miles,

The two words that come to mind when I think about your life lately are hungry and sleepy.  That makes it sound like you’re suffering in some way, and I really don’t think you are, beyond the usual laments that come with having two little brothers.  You’re just growing so fast that all you want to do are sleep and eat.  This is not to say you’ve widened your food vocabulary—you’re still mostly into pasta, hot dogs, and stir fry.  Actually, I take that back.  I finally found organic bing cherries at the store, and along with the delicious peaches that are coming into season, at least you’re eating fruit.  In the meantime, it’s a good thing pasta is cheap, because you go through about three pounds a week.

We’re now in the less-busy segment of our summer, when baseball and your summer classes are done, and we’re living a little more free-form.  You had a good end to your baseball season.  You grew a lot your baseball skills, and you made some good friends and had a great coach.  I’m so proud that you stretched your boundaries and tried a new activity.

I took you and Tobin to a local teen performance of The Little Mermaid a couple of weeks ago, and we all had a good time.  The cast was excellent—there are some very talented kids in this area, and it’s great that they have the opportunity to be part of a production like that.  It’s exactly the sort of thing I was involved with in my youth, and I once again did the silliest thing:  when the lights in the house went down and the pit orchestra played the overture, I teared up.  That particular set of sensory experiences brings up so many memories for me:  the anticipation, the nervousness, the thrill, and the camaraderie of being in the cast of a play.

Baseball is not my thing.  I don’t like playing it, I don’t like watching it (unless someone I love is playing), and the only thing I truly enjoy about the experience is concession stand food.  But after watching you be a part of the Cardinals, I think  I get it.  Being on a baseball team is like being a castmember.  You learn to count on your team-/castmates, you share highs and lows and successes and failures, you deal with egos and anxiety.  I don’t know if you’ll ever want to try out for a play, but if you want to play more baseball, I will understand why.

I think our busy June contributed to your sleepiness, though.  Now that you have more free time, you’ve been spending a good amount of it in bed.  Sometimes I need to run errands, so I leave you notes on your door explaining where I am if you wake up and I’m gone.  It’s nice that you’re old enough to be home alone for short periods, and it’s nice that you can read a note I leave you.  Still, a lot of times you’re still asleep by the time I get home.

We had a fun long weekend in St. Louis with Mubby, Skittergramps, Tyler, Oxana, Aleks, and Vera.  We revisited two of your favorite destinations:  the St. Louis Zoo (where you got to see your splashy old friends the penguins) and the City Museum.  We also spend a lot of time at a park with a kid-friendly fountain.  Even last summer, you were reluctant to do adventurous things like play in water.  When I took you kids to the library last summer, Tobin always wanted to play in the downtown fountain afterward, and you were always happy to sit on a bench and read a book.  I don’t know if it was the hot St. Louis weather or the squirt toys Mubby brought, but this time you jumped right in and played with the locals.

It was a quick trip but an enjoyable one.  You and your brothers mostly got along in the car, even.

You’ve gotten braver in other ways, too.  In most of your summer classes, you already knew at least one other kid in your group.  The third class you took, an animation class offered by our local independent cinema, was totally new to you.  You’d never taken a class anywhere but Willowwind, and you didn’t know anyone else taking the animation class, but you did so well.  You said it was the best class you took all summer.  The first day when you got home, you immediately downloaded the stop motion software and made your own videos the rest of the afternoon.  We’re using some of the other skills you gained by making an original short film, King Tiger.  We still have some work to do on it, so I’ll wait to post a link to that until next month.

I guess you deserve a rest.  Growing, physically and mentally, takes a lot out of a kid.  Congratulations on all your growth, my special boy.

Love,

Mom

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